Robert Woody

Robert Woody

Steinhart Foundation Distinguished Professor of Music (Music Education), Co-area head (Undergraduate) Music Education
Area of Focus: Music Education

Dr. Robert H. Woody is the Steinhart Foundation Distinguished Professor of Music (Music Education) in the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned a bachelor of music degree from UNL and two master's degrees (music education and educational research) and a Ph.D. in music education from Florida State University. Additionally, he holds certificates in computers in music and Orff Schulwerk (Levels I and II).

Dr. Woody taught classroom general music as a full-time teacher in the public schools of Florida and has worked with children of all ages in additional instructional capacities. Currently at UNL, he teaches the undergraduate courses MUED 244 Music Learning and Development and MUED 344 General Music Methods, and the graduate courses MUED 836 Psychology and Sociology of Music and MUSC 839 Music in the Lives of People. He also teaches MUSC 189H Psychology of Music Seminar to freshman in the UNL Honors Program. Dr. Woody's work in the classroom was recognized with the 2006 Distinguished Teaching Award for the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Dr. Woody's research deals primarily with the psychology of music. He is an author of the book, Psychology for Musicians: Understanding and Acquiring the Skills, with Andreas C. Lehmann and John A. Sloboda (Oxford University Press). He is specifically interested in the cognitive mechanisms of expressive performance and the skill-based factors that contribute to participatory music involvement among people. He has published articles in research journals such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychomusicology, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education; other writings have appeared in the Music Educators Journal, General Music Today, and American Music Teacher. He is also a frequent presenter at conferences, including the Biennial Convention of MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, and the World Conference of the International Society for Music Education. He recently completed a term of office on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education.